Jeremiah 7-15
English Standard Version
Evil in the Land
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 (A)“Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 (C)Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’
5 “For if you truly (D)amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly (E)execute justice one with another, 6 if you (F)do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, (G)or shed innocent blood in this place, (H)and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 (I)then I will let you dwell in this place, (J)in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 (K)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, (L)swear falsely, (M)make offerings to Baal, (N)and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, (O)which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 (P)Has this house, (Q)which is called by my name, (R)become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to (S)my place that was in Shiloh, (T)where I made my name dwell at first, and (U)see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and (V)when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and (W)when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to (X)the house (Y)that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, (Z)as I did to Shiloh. 15 (AA)And I will cast you out of my sight, (AB)as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of (AC)Ephraim.
16 “As for you, (AD)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, (AE)and the women knead dough, to (AF)make cakes for (AG)the queen of heaven. And (AH)they pour out drink offerings to other gods, (AI)to provoke me to anger. 19 (AJ)Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, (AK)to their own shame? 20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, (AL)my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; (AM)it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (AN)“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them (AO)concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: (AP)‘Obey my voice, and (AQ)I will be your God, and you shall be my people. (AR)And walk in all the way that I command you, (AS)that it may be well with you.’ 24 (AT)But they did not obey or incline their ear, (AU)but walked in their own counsels and (AV)the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and (AW)went backward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, (AX)I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 (AY)Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, (AZ)but stiffened their neck. (BA)They did worse than their fathers.
27 (BB)“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. (BC)You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; (BD)truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.
29 (BE)“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on (BF)the bare heights,
for the Lord has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.’
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set (BG)their detestable things in the house (BH)that is called by my name, to (BI)defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of (BJ)Topheth, which is in (BK)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (BL)to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, (BM)which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 (BN)Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called (BO)Topheth, or (BP)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; (BQ)for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 (BR)And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, (BS)and none will frighten them away. 34 (BT)And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, (BU)for the land shall become a waste.
8 “At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2 And they shall be spread (BV)before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. (BW)And they shall not be gathered or buried. (BX)They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3 (BY)Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family (BZ)in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts.
Sin and Treachery
4 “You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:
(CA)When men fall, do they not rise again?
If one turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then has this people (CB)turned away
in perpetual (CC)backsliding?
(CD)They hold fast to deceit;
they refuse to return.
6 (CE)I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
(CF)like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
7 Even the stork in the heavens
knows her times,
and (CG)the turtledove, (CH)swallow, and crane[a]
keep the time of their coming,
(CI)but my people know not
the rules[b] of the Lord.
8 (CJ)“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
has made it into a lie.
9 (CK)The wise men shall be put to shame;
they shall be dismayed (CL)and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom is in them?
10 (CM)Therefore I will give their wives to others
and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
everyone (CN)is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
11 They have healed (CO)the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, (CP)they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
(CQ)Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
13 When I would gather them, declares the Lord,
there are (CR)no grapes on the vine,
(CS)nor figs on the fig tree;
(CT)even the leaves are withered,
and what I gave them has passed away from them.”[c]
14 Why do we sit still?
(CU)Gather together; (CV)let us go into the fortified cities
and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and has (CW)given us (CX)poisoned water to drink,
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 (CY)We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
16 (CZ)“The snorting of their horses is heard (DA)from Dan;
at the sound of the neighing (DB)of their stallions
(DC)the whole land quakes.
They come (DD)and devour the land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
17 For behold, I am sending among you (DE)serpents,
adders (DF)that cannot be charmed,
(DG)and they shall bite you,”
declares the Lord.
Jeremiah Grieves for His People
18 My joy is gone; grief is upon me;[d]
(DH)my heart is sick within me.
19 Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
from (DI)the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
(DJ)Is her King not in her?”
(DK)“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
and with their foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
and we are not saved.”
21 For the wound of (DL)the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
(DM)I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no (DN)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
not been restored?
9 [e] (DO)Oh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of (DP)the daughter of my people!
2 [f] Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers' lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all (DQ)adulterers,
a company of (DR)treacherous men.
3 (DS)They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong[g] in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
(DT)and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 (DU)Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every (DV)brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor (DW)goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
(DX)they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, (DY)I will refine them and (DZ)test them,
for what else can I do, (EA)because of my people?
8 (EB)Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
(EC)it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth (ED)each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart (EE)he plans an ambush for him.
9 (EF)Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for (EG)the pastures of the wilderness,
(EH)because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
(EI)both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 (EJ)I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
(EK)a lair of jackals,
(EL)and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 (EM)Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined (EN)and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: (EO)“Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but (EP)have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (EQ)Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them (ER)poisonous water to drink. 16 (ES)I will scatter them among the nations (ET)whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will (EU)send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
(EV)“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18 let them make haste (EW)and raise a wailing over us,
(EX)that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
(EY)‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
(EZ)cutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
(FA)‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
(FB)like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23 Thus says the Lord: (FC)“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but (FD)let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. (FE)For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when (FF)I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 (FG)Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and (FH)all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are (FI)uncircumcised in heart.”
Idols and the Living God
10 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
“Learn not the way of the nations,
nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
because the nations are dismayed at them,
3 (FJ)for the customs of the peoples are vanity.[h]
(FK)A tree from the forest is cut down
and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 (FL)They decorate it with silver and gold;
(FM)they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols[i] are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
and (FN)they cannot speak;
(FO)they have to be carried,
for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
(FP)for they cannot do evil,
neither is it in them to do good.”
6 (FQ)There is none like you, O Lord;
you are great, and your name is great in might.
7 (FR)Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
and in all their kingdoms
there is none like you.
8 (FS)They are both (FT)stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 (FU)Beaten silver is brought from (FV)Tarshish,
and gold from (FW)Uphaz.
(FX)They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
their clothing is violet and purple;
(FY)they are all the work of skilled men.
10 (FZ)But the Lord is the true God;
(GA)he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: (GB)“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth (GC)shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”[j]
12 (GD)It is he who (GE)made the earth by his power,
(GF)who established the world by his wisdom,
and (GG)by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 (GH)When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
(GI)and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
(GJ)He makes lightning (GK)for the rain,
(GL)and he brings forth the wind (GM)from his storehouses.
14 (GN)Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
(GO)every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
(GP)and there is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is (GQ)the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
(GR)and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
(GS)the Lord of hosts is his name.
17 (GT)Gather up your bundle from the ground,
O you who dwell under siege!
18 For thus says the Lord:
(GU)“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
at this time,
(GV)and I will bring distress on them,
that they may feel it.”
19 Woe is me because of my hurt!
(GW)My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
and I must bear it.”
20 (GX)My tent is destroyed,
and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
(GY)and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
and (GZ)to set up my curtains.
21 (HA)For the shepherds (HB)are stupid
and do not inquire of the Lord;
therefore they have not prospered,
(HC)and all their flock is scattered.
22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
(HD)a great commotion out of the north country
to make (HE)the cities of Judah a desolation,
(HF)a lair of jackals.
23 (HG)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 (HH)Correct me, O Lord, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 (HI)Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
and on the peoples that call not on your name,
(HJ)for they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him and consumed him,
and have laid waste his habitation.
The Broken Covenant
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 (HK)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: (HL)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, (HM)from the iron furnace, saying, (HN)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. (HO)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 (HP)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, (HQ)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”
6 And the Lord said to me, (HR)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: (HS)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, (HT)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, (HU)Obey my voice. 8 (HV)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, (HW)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all (HX)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”
9 Again the Lord said to me, (HY)“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to (HZ)the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. (IA)They have gone after other gods to serve them. (IB)The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. (IC)Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (ID)will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, (IE)but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 (IF)For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, (IG)altars to make offerings to Baal.
14 “Therefore (IH)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, (II)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 (IJ)What right has my beloved in my house, (IK)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? (IL)Can you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you (IM)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But (IN)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and (IO)its branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, (IP)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, (IQ)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”
18 The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
then you showed me their deeds.
19 But I was (IR)like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know (IS)it was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
(IT)let us cut him off from (IU)the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
who (IV)tests (IW)the heart and the mind,
(IX)let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of (IY)Anathoth, (IZ)who seek your life, and say, (JA)“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of (JB)Anathoth, (JC)the year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah's Complaint
12 (JD)Righteous are you, O Lord,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
(JE)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all (JF)who are treacherous thrive?
2 You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
(JG)you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.
3 (JH)But you, O Lord, know me;
(JI)you see me, and test my heart toward you.
(JJ)Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for (JK)the day of slaughter.
4 (JL)How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
(JM)For the evil of those who dwell in it
(JN)the beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
5 “If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in (JO)the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For (JP)even your brothers and the house of your father,
(JQ)even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
(JR)do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”
7 “I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned (JS)my heritage;
I have given (JT)the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
8 (JU)My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.
9 Is (JV)my heritage to me like (JW)a hyena's lair?
Are the (JX)birds of prey against her all around?
Go, (JY)assemble all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
(JZ)they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it a desolation;
desolate, (KA)it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
(KB)but no man lays it to heart.
12 Upon all the bare heights in the desert
destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
from one end of the land to the other;
no flesh has peace.
13 (KC)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
(KD)they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their[k] harvests
(KE)because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all (KF)my evil neighbors (KG)who touch the heritage that (KH)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, (KI)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. 16 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, (KJ)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, (KK)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 (KL)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”
The Ruined Loincloth
13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and (KM)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, (KN)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in (KO)a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there (KP)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took (KQ)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was (KR)spoiled; it was (KS)good for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: (KT)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great (KU)pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, (KV)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is (KW)good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, (KX)that they might be for me a people, (KY)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
The Jars Filled with Wine
12 “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that (KZ)every jar will be filled with wine?’ 13 Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: (LA)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: (LB)the kings who sit on David's throne, (LC)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 14 And I will (LD)dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 (LE)Give glory to the Lord your God
(LF)before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and (LG)while you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it (LH)deep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
(LI)my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to (LJ)the king and (LK)the queen mother:
“Take a lowly seat,
for (LL)your beautiful crown
has come down from your head.”
19 (LM)The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
wholly taken into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes (LN)and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when they set as head over you
those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
(LO)Will not pangs take hold of you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
(LP)‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
that (LQ)your skirts are lifted up
and you suffer violence.
23 (LR)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or (LS)the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
who are accustomed to do evil.
24 I will scatter you[l] (LT)like chaff
driven by the wind from the desert.
25 (LU)This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because (LV)you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 (LW)I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen (LX)your abominations,
your adulteries and (LY)neighings, your lewd whorings,
(LZ)on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be (MA)before you are made clean?”
Famine, Sword, and Pestilence
14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning (MB)the drought:
2 (MC)“Judah mourns,
and (MD)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
and (ME)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
3 Her nobles send their servants for water;
they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
they return with their vessels empty;
they are (MF)ashamed and confounded
and (MG)cover their heads.
4 Because of the ground that is dismayed,
since there is (MH)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5 Even (MI)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 (MJ)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no vegetation.
7 “Though our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, (MK)for your name's sake;
(ML)for our backslidings are many;
(MM)we have sinned against you.
8 (MN)O you hope of Israel,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should you be like a man confused,
(MO)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet (MP)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and (MQ)we are called by your name;
(MR)do not leave us.”
10 Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
they have not restrained their feet;
(MS)therefore the Lord does not accept them;
(MT)now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.”
11 The Lord said to me: (MU)“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, (MV)and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them (MW)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
Lying Prophets
13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets (MX)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” 14 And the Lord said to me: “The (MY)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. (MZ)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, (NA)worthless divination, and (NB)the deceit of their own minds. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although (NC)I did not send them, and who say, (ND)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: (NE)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, (NF)with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.
17 “You shall say to them this word:
(NG)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin (NH)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
(NI)with a very grievous blow.
18 (NJ)If I go out into the field,
behold, those pierced by the sword!
(NK)And if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
(NL)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
and have no knowledge.’”
19 (NM)Have you utterly rejected Judah?
Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
(NN)so that there is no healing for us?
(NO)We looked for peace, but no good came;
(NP)for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
20 (NQ)We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
(NR)for we have sinned against you.
21 Do not spurn us, (NS)for your name's sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
(NT)remember and do not break your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among (NU)the false gods of the nations (NV)that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
(NW)for you do all these things.
The Lord Will Not Relent
15 Then the Lord said to me, (NX)“Though (NY)Moses (NZ)and Samuel (OA)stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2 And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
(OB)“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3 (OC)I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and (OD)the birds of the air (OE)and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 (OF)And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what (OG)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
5 (OH)“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
(OI)or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 (OJ)You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
(OK)you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
(OL)I am weary of relenting.
7 (OM)I have winnowed them with (ON)a winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
(OO)they did not turn from their ways.
8 I have made their widows more in number
than (OP)the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon them suddenly.
9 (OQ)She who bore seven has grown feeble;
(OR)she has fainted away;
(OS)her sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
declares the Lord.”
Jeremiah's Complaint
10 (OT)Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! (OU)I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11 The Lord said, “Have I not[m] set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12 Can one break iron, iron (OV)from the north, and bronze?
13 (OW)“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as (OX)spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies (OY)in a land that you do not know, (OZ)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
15 (PA)O Lord, you know;
(PB)remember me and visit me,
(PC)(PD)and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
(PE)know that (PF)for your sake I bear reproach.
16 Your words were found, (PG)and I ate them,
and (PH)your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
(PI)for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
17 (PJ)I did not sit in the company of revelers,
nor did I rejoice;
(PK)I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
for you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
(PL)my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me (PM)like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(PN)“If you return, I will restore you,
and you shall (PO)stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
but you shall not turn to them.
20 (PP)And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
(PQ)but they shall not prevail over you,
(PR)for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
21 (PS)I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
and redeem you from the grasp of (PT)the ruthless.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
- Jeremiah 8:7 Or just decrees
- Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Jeremiah 8:18 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Jeremiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
- Jeremiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
- Jeremiah 9:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and not for truth they have grown strong
- Jeremiah 10:3 Or vapor, or mist
- Jeremiah 10:5 Hebrew They
- Jeremiah 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic
- Jeremiah 12:13 Hebrew your
- Jeremiah 13:24 Hebrew them
- Jeremiah 15:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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